The Bodhi Marvelous Tree was imbued with the essence of great purity, great wisdom, great freedom, and great bliss, seemingly embodying the intrinsic nature within every person—the self’s Tathāgata. Yet, in the perception of Han Guang’s transformed Tathāgata golden body, it felt unbearably heavy, barely movable even by a fraction. Despite both being “of the same origin” and belonging to the Buddhist “Tathāgata,” allowing them to bypass layers of restrictions and alleviate most of the weight, the tree remained immovable.
Just as the crystalline Buddha light around him began to manifest golden Tathāgata apparitions, each poised to unleash the Tathāgata Palm, a subtle sound of rending air echoed from the heights of Vulture Peak—like a hot knife slicing through butter.
In his spiritual perception, Han Guang saw only a dim, lightless dark sword descending from beyond the heavens, streaking across the sky and slashing down with terrifying speed. Were it not for Vulture Peak being the ancient Buddha’s sacred ground, where omnipresence below the Other Shore was impossible, the sword would have already struck him.
The sword was three feet, three inches, and three-tenths long, pitch-black and devoid of any ornamentation, embodying only the purest slaughter and most horrifying destruction. Where it passed, no life could endure. Merely glimpsing it, Han Guang felt his vitality rapidly draining. Without five instants, even untouched by the blade, he would perish on the spot.
The foremost in killing—the Nethersea Sword!
The Seven-Kill Daoist had made his move!
“As expected…” Han Guang remained unshaken, as if he had anticipated this.
Among all the great powers and supreme beings, if there was one who remained fixated on the affairs of the Demon Buddha day and night—even as the Green Emperor neared the end of his tribulations, Other Shore figures engaged in silent struggles, and the current Human Emperor approached the manifestation of the third anomaly, ascending to legend, with the imminent fusion of the Sealing Platform and the Register of Deities—none could distract him as much as the Seven-Kill Daoist, once enslaved by the Demon Buddha.
No one cared more about whether the Demon Buddha would break free than him—this obsession even surpassed Su Meng’s!
As Han Guang’s thoughts raced, a familiar yet overwhelmingly powerful sound of rushing water reached his ears, deepening the smile on his face.
The surrounding water essence surged violently, transforming the skies above Vulture Peak into a vast, deep-blue ocean. Waves coalesced into the towering, solemn figure of a deity, standing atop two five-clawed black dragons, with water snakes coiled around his ears, his hue akin to the sea, wielding a black octagonal mace. He positioned himself perfectly to block the Nethersea Sword.
Crack!
The divine figure instantly turned black, losing all vitality and shattering into countless droplets. Yet the waters surged anew, life endlessly regenerating, reforming the same divine figure in an instant—born, destroyed, and reborn. The Nethersea Sword was mired as if in quicksand, unable to eradicate its foe!
“Water Ancestor, what benefit do you gain from releasing the Demon Buddha?” The Seven-Kill Daoist’s furious voice echoed from above.
The towering waves roared in response: “You wouldn’t understand.”
Before their words faded, both the oceanic waves and the Nethersea suddenly sank, as if bearing an unbearable, immense pressure.
The gloom split asunder, the heavens cleaved apart, and a colossal golden cudgel capable of shattering Vulture Peak descended with a thunderous crash, casting Han Guang into the shadow of its impact.
Though the Great Sage Equaling Heaven was closely monitoring the affairs of the Green Emperor, Gao Lan, and the Sealing Platform, his unique position prevented him from intervening directly. He had intended only to rescue familiar faces at the last moment, leaving him some leeway to react. Initially, he hadn’t anticipated Lu Ya and Han Guang’s true goal of releasing the Demon Buddha. But with the Seven-Kill Daoist’s intervention causing an unmistakable disturbance, the Great Sage “turned back” and struck with his cudgel!
A mere fly dares such audacity?
Taste my cudgel!
At that moment, a massive, six-fingered black hand emerged from the void—neither terrifying nor grotesque, but exuding a profound, serene tranquility, like the inevitable destination of all life: death and slumber.
The six fingers transformed into swirling vortices of darkness, ethereal and indistinct, as if connected to six different Great Daos, spinning endlessly, causing the heavens and earth to flicker between light and darkness.
The Great Sage’s full-force strike was terrifying, but ensnared by the ever-shifting vortices, its momentum waned—now light, now heavy, now ghostly, now mundane—losing its edge and slowing drastically.
After Wang Siyuan escaped his control, the Emperor of Fengdu began to awaken. By the time Ruan Yushu attained her Dharma Body, he had nearly regained his Creation-level strength. Now, after more time had passed, though not yet at his peak, he was once more a supreme being. While defeating the Great Sage was beyond him, delaying him for a few instants was within his grasp!
Unfazed, Han Guang watched as the Buddha light around him coalesced into golden bodies, each forming hand seals and gathering power for the Tathāgata Palm.
“Supremacy Over All,” “Emptiness of the Four Elements,” “Holding a Flower and Smiling,” “Repentance is Salvation…”
The nine Tathāgata apparitions stepped forward, merging into Han Guang’s body. The nine forms of the Tathāgata Palm linked seamlessly, striking the Bodhi Marvelous Tree.
Han Guang’s mouth opened, uttering a solemn, resonant proclamation:
“All conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, shadows!”
Instantly, the Bodhi Marvelous Tree absorbed the nine Tathāgata Palms, becoming eerily weightless—as if its prior heaviness, the restrictions, everything, had been mere illusions, dreams, and shadows.
…
“Success!” Zhao Heng’s hands were shrouded in ink-black mist, tainted and foul, yet his heart swelled with elation.
He had finally erased Lu Ya’s mark!
Without delay, Zhao Heng began imprinting his own seal while pressing the “Register of Deities” onto the Sealing Platform’s core mechanism.
Boom!
The Sealing Platform trembled, and a deep rumble rose from the earth. Multicolored lights soared, and the surrounding carvings of deities emerged vividly, as if myriad immortals and gods had gathered in worship.
Above, starlight shimmered brilliantly, converging into a dazzling sea. Gao Lan had finally broken through the gate of legend, manifesting his third and final anomaly, “Starlight as the Sea,” following “Virtue Nurtures All” and “Ten Thousand Golden Lamps.” Unstoppable now, once his realm stabilized, he would become the world’s second newly ascended legend!
Zhao Heng remained calm but relieved—had he been any slower, Gao Lan could have intervened.
Suddenly, a flash of light caught his eye as a scroll flew forth with the earth’s tremors. Strangely linked to the Great Zhou and its people, it pierced through the “Picture of Splendid Rivers and Mountains” and overlapped with the “Register of Deities.”
The Scroll of Ghosts and Spirits!
The Emperor of Fengdu’s “Scroll of Ghosts and Spirits!”
Boom!
Heaven and earth shook. The skies seemed to reveal a phantom of the celestial realm, while the earth turned translucent, exposing the Nine Nethers and the dreamlike underworld.
Heaven, earth, and the netherworld appeared on the verge of merging in that instant—the moment the Emperor of Fengdu had long awaited.
Of course, he hadn’t descended personally but entrusted this task to his Yama underlings. Yet, dealing with Zhao Heng and Qi Zhengyan was more than enough!
Crucially, this wasn’t a battle of brute force but a contest of divine will within the “scroll” for dominance. The Yamas’ weakened state in the mortal realm, further isolated by the “Picture of Splendid Rivers and Mountains,” rendered their interference minimal.
…
In the Jade Void Palace of Kunlun Mountain, Meng Qi hesitated over whether the fruit in his hand would benefit the Green Emperor when a sudden shock ran through him—he sensed the anomaly atop Vulture Peak.
Since Gu Xiaosang’s warning, he had remained vigilant against anyone desperate enough to infiltrate Vulture Peak and release the Demon Buddha to disrupt the game. Thus, he had secretly left a trace of the “Cause of All Effects” near the Five Elements Mountain’s seal, now triggered by the Demon Master’s presence.
“Han Guang and Lu Ya feinted east to strike west—their true aim is the Demon Buddha?”
“Didn’t Lu Ya deeply distrust the Demon Buddha, repeatedly thwarting his schemes?”
Questions flooded his mind, but Meng Qi had no time to ponder. His only chance now was to aid the Green Emperor’s ascent to the Other Shore, enabling him to halt the seal’s undoing.
Even if the Green Emperor couldn’t act in time, he could at least oppose the Demon Buddha and protect Meng Qi.
—Vulture Peak wasn’t a place one could simply descend upon. Even if his elder brother had attained legend and Meng Qi was no longer occupied with the Sealing Platform, stopping Han Guang now was impossible unless he could directly breach Vulture Peak’s defenses.
And was the fruit truly beneficial to the Green Emperor?
In that fleeting moment, Meng Qi recalled a past revelation:
The Green Emperor had entrusted the core fragment of the Heavenly Mirror to the Golden Emperor, nurturing it in the Jade Pool before vanishing… From the Green Emperor’s path to enlightenment, that marked the true beginning of his alternate Other Shore journey. In other words, the last person he met before this pivotal act was the Golden Emperor.
This implied trust!
Hence, Gu Xiaosang could enter the Fusang Ancient Tree’s domain despite her weakness? And the Mother of No Birth had “delivered” this fruit into his hands?
With these thoughts flashing through his mind, Meng Qi hesitated no longer. With a flick of his finger, the eerie fruit from the Fusang Ancient Tree appeared above the current node of the illusory River of Time!
…
The Bodhi Marvelous Tree, now light as air, was lifted effortlessly by the smiling Han Guang. The Five Elements Mountain loosened slightly, wisps of black mist seeping out.
Yet Han Guang’s gaze froze—for beneath the Bodhi Marvelous Tree, atop the Five Elements Mountain, sat the phantom of an ancient, weathered Buddha. His body was bluish-gold, adorned with eyes of wisdom, exuding an aura of sacred perfection. The mountain didn’t crumble as the tree was lifted.
No—not a Buddha’s phantom!
Han Guang focused. This was no ancient Buddha but a scepter—a scepter of purple, white, gold, and yellow, brimming with fortune, merit, and virtue. The legendary Three Treasures Scepter of antiquity!
It rested silently atop the Five Elements Mountain, serving as a second layer of sealing.
Han Guang’s expression finally shifted, two names echoing in his heart:
The Holy Buddha!
The Primordial Celestial Venerable!
Truly, the will of heaven is inscrutable.
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